Social Vulnerability of Brazilian Metropolitan Schools and Teachers' Absence from Work Due to Vocal and Psychological Symptoms: A Multilevel Analysis

Autores da FMUP

• Mariana Fernandes Lobo

  Autor

• José Alberto Da Silva Freitas

  Autor

Participantes de fora da FMUP

• Medeiros, AM
• Vieira, MT
• Duarte, L.
• Carvalho, JPM
• Teodoro, A.
• Claro, RM
• Gomes, NR

Unidades de investigação

• Laboratório Associado RISE- Rede de Investigação em Saúde

  

  Investigador

  Fernando Carlos De Landér Schmitt

• Medicina da Comunidade, Informação e Decisão em Saúde

• RISE-Health

  

  Investigador

  Fernando Carlos De Landér Schmitt

Abstract

Teachers voices and psychological symptoms are the main reasons for absence from work. The objectives of this study were: (i) to spatially represent, through a webGIS, the standardized rates of teachers absences due to voice (outcome 1) and psychological symptoms (outcome 2) in each Brazilian Federative Unit (FU = 26 states plus Federal District) and (ii) to analyze the relationship between each national outcome rate and the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) of the municipality where urban schools are located, adjusted for sex, age, and working conditions. This cross-sectional study comprised 4979 randomly sampled teachers working in basic education urban schools, of which 83.3% are women. The national absence rates were 17.25% for voice symptoms and 14.93% for psychological symptoms. The rates, SVI, and school locations in the 27 FUs are dynamically visualized in webGIS. The multilevel multivariate logistic regression model showed a positive association between voice outcome and high/very high SVI (OR = 1.05 [1.03; 1.07]), whereas psychological symptoms were negatively associated with high/very high SVI (OR = 0.86 [0.85 0.88]) and positively associated with intermediate SVI (OR = 1.15 [1.13; 1.16]), in contrast with low/very low SVI. Being a woman (voice: OR = 1.36 [1.35; 1.38]; psychological: 1.22 [1.21; 1.24]) and working in schools with various precarious conditions (17 variables) increased the odds of being absent due to voice and psychological symptoms. The results confirm the need for investments to improve working conditions in schools.

Keywords

• Brazil; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Male; Multilevel Analysis; Occupational Diseases; School Teachers; Schools; Social Vulnerability; Voice Disorders; GIS; mental health; metropolitan area; psychology; regression analysis; symptom; vulnerability; working conditions; absenteeism; adult; age; Article; Brazil; Brazilian; controlled study; cross-sectional study; female; geographic information system; human; major clinical study; male; mental disease; mental health; multilevel analysis; multivariate logistic regression analysis; occupational health; school; school teacher; sex; social vulnerability; Social Vulnerability Index; urban area; voice disorder; occupational disease; school; school teacher